When Aaron and I decided to move to Carbondale last winter, I started searching for online sources of fabric because I knew the thrift store situation would not be nearly as awesome as it is in Madison. I discovered fabric mill ends - the end trimmed off of a tube of newly manufactured fabric. Were talking about thin strips of fabric yards and yards and yards long. So, essentially waste to the fabric mill, but perfect for rug makers. I found a place in Iowa that deals with fabric mills and buys the mill ends in bulk and has a warehouse to store them all. They weave and crochet rugs, but also sell the mill ends too. I placed my first order last week when I was having a freak out about my dwindling fabric stash.

My 30 pound box arrived on Friday. I ripped it open and unpacked them and admired my new materials. Pretty, huh?

Some of them were too thick to crochet without cutting in half and I wasn't sure what I was going to do about that since I thought it would take forever to do it. But, lucky for me, my mom was coming to visit! I knew she needed some project to work on while we drank tea, listened to music and caught up with each other. I put her to work cutting that tan one in the bottom right-hand corner. I used the entire roll all by itself to create this simple yet very pretty rug that measures 29 inches in diameter.

Natural Jute Tones Rug

I've got a lot to work with, but am already thinking about how awesome it is to have these already cut strips of fabric. It limits my ability to pick colors because they just send you an assortment, but with more orders I'll get more and more options, right? And of course I can pair them with fabric yarn I make myself from sheets and remnants.

It has been kind of stressful here lately. We went to St. Louis over night for a concert and some thrift store shopping. I had been so down about about my fabric stash, and my lack of sources to get more. Finally! I found a Salvation Army in STL that was selling sheets for $2 and had lots of pretty colorful ones. I pretty much cleaned them out. We had a great time at the concert and it was a great weekend. We walked into the house to find the toilet tank leaking, water all over the floor, and water dripping down to the basement bathroom. So, I spent most of Monday calling the plumber and watching the plumber - when we have service people come over, I'm trying to watch them so I can learn more about how everything in the house works. I know a lot more about my toilet now! Tuesday I had to take my cat to the vet. She had a check-up the week before and the vet showed me that her teeth were really bad and gums were infected and that it could lead to more problems if we didn't take care of it (ie. pull out her teeth!) She went in, stayed overnight, had 5 teeth pulled, and I sat home and worried the whole time. She's home now, hopped up on pain meds and antibiotics, and feeling fine and eating well. I can finally relax!

So, in between all of that, I managed to get some of the new sheets I bought washed and crocheted into rugs. Here's a couple of them that I will be adding to my etsy store in the near future.

A kiwi slice rug! I haven't made one of these in a while!

I had a lime green twin-sized blanket that I was thinking about crocheting with some of the lime green and white sheets I've collected, but that just wasn't that appealing to me. Then I remembered the kiwi design and decided to use it for that instead. A twin-sized sheet doesn't go very far or make a very big rug the way I usually cut the fabric, so I cut it only half as wide as I usually do. The blanket was pretty thick so I was able to make a nice, thick rug even though it was thinner strips than normal.

Kiwi Slice Crochet Rug

Another small difference that makes all the difference! I had this white with orange, green, and yellow fabric remnant sitting next to a green flannel sheet since we moved here waiting to be made into a rug. Subconsciously I must have known it wasn't the right match, because I never did it! Yesterday I paired it with the orange and it made all the difference, it was like the fabric sang out to me when they were paired together. Bye bye, green. I'm sure I'll use you later.

Orange and Avocado Crochet Rug

Also, exciting news to report: I'll be heading to Austin, TX to take part in the first ever Renegade Craft Fair there! Yee-haw!

A large piece of dusty lavender fabric found its way into my fabric stash. Every time I saw it, I thought, "Ugh, how am I ever going to use that!?!?" I was trying to decide what colors would go nicely with this weird lavender color.

Then, yesterday, as I was putting some newly acquired sheets on my fabric shelves, I found the perfect mate for that weird lavender fabric! My problem was that that fabric wasn't lavender at all! It was, in fact, periwinkle! Totally different!

The result: Periwinkle Twinkle Crochet Rug

Aaron and I both started eating healthier and lost a bunch of weight over the past year. Aaron cleaned out his closet and gave me tons of shirts that were too big for him now. I thought about taking them to the thrift store, but since most of them came from the thrift store anyways, I figured it was time for them to be something else.

I don't usually make rugs entirely out of clothes, it is really labor intensive to cut apart the pieces of clothing and then cut the pieces into yarn. But this one was fun. I like the extra texture that small lengths of fabric yarn make. When I use a sheet to make yarn, I can usually cut it into one long length, that's not possible with clothes. Another good thing about cutting up all these shirts was that I was able to collect lots of buttons for my catnip rattlers.

Here's the result of 9 of Aaron's old XL and L button down shirts.

Silver to Black Crochet Rug

Even though I have been feeling like my fabric stash is starting to get down to the dregs, I was able to make two rugs yesterday.

The interesting thing about this rug is that I kept trying to pair the patterned sheet with a light blue and I just didn't like it. Finally, I found that buttery yellow fabric and I knew I found the patterned sheets partner!
Buttery Yellow Garden Crochet Rug

This rug was crocheted with a set of twin-sized bedsheets, the top sheet and the fitted sheet. This is a good example of how much fabric it takes to crochet a rug. I used the entire set of sheets and the rug is only 21 inches in diameter!
Blue Twinkle Crochet Rug

I went to the thrift store today and came home with three bags full of sheets and fabric. I'm washing them now so hopefully the rug making can continue!

I get fabric from a lot of places: yard sales, thrift stores, people who donate it to me, etc. Once the fabric ends up in my hands, I feel responsible for it. I had this sheet that was just so blah, it was white with little beige triangles on it. It was pale and I had it for awhile and just couldn't seem to as Tim Dunn would say, "make it work." I took a cue from that navy and white rug I made a few weeks ago (also with fabric I wasn't excited about) and paired it with a brown and white animal print sheet that was almost identical in tone. The result, very nice I think! Looks like a sandy beach, don't you think?

Sandy Beach Crochet Rug

My fabric bin with my brown fabric balls was so full I could barely close it. I kept revisiting it trying to see what I could make with them, but nothing was popping out at me. Finally, I found the fabric that tied a bunch of fabric yarn I had already cut together. It was a beige sheet with dark brown butterflies. In addition to that sheet, this rug was crocheted with yarn I cut from a taupe sheet, a velour curtain panel, and scraps from corduroy pants and a knit shirt. The bin is still pretty full, so hopefully more brown ideas will come to me!

I have been craving fancy coffee drinks lately and I think it is really affecting my rug-naming. This one is called Coffee and Cream Crochet Rug.